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RAPID CITY, S.D. – As worldwide demand for rare earth elements and other similar minerals rises – as do tensions among the United States, China and now Greenland – South Dakota is experiencing its own debate over its reserves of what are known as "critical minerals." Rare earth elements are naturally occurring metallic materials found in sub-surface rocks that have been found to possess unique properties that make them highly valuable and highly useful, particularly in a variety of new technologies. While 17 elements are classified as rare earth, the U.S. government has identified 50 minerals overall that are labeled critical minerals, which also includes a number of other minerals that are seen as essential to economic and military strength of the nation. Of those 50 critical minerals, South Dakota is known to host reserves of 15 of them, none of which are rare earth minerals but which contain some of the same properties that make them valuable for industry and technology. Critical minerals in the state include antimony, arsenic, barite, beryllium, cesium, fluorspar, graphite, lithium, manganese, niobium, tantalum, tellurium, tin, tungsten and vanadium, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Those minerals are located in the western South Dakota counties of Custer, Fall River, Harding, Lawrence, Pennington and Perkins as well as the central counties of Buffalo and Lyman, according to a 2024 analysis by the state Legislative Research Council. Given its long history of mining, and based on new studies, the Black Hills region is wellknown as a place where usable critical minerals are present, which is attracting exploratory mining, said Christopher Pellowski, a geology professor at South Dakota Mines in Rapid City. Rare earth elements and other critical minerals can be abundant but are difficult to extract because they tend to lie within other minerals that must be mined and separated through chemical processes. Pellowski said he doesn't expect large-scale mining to occur in the Black Hills unless and until companies can find substantial levels of critical minerals that can be monetized. Exploration for lithium has seen the most activity in pegmatite ore near Hill City and Keystone. South Dakota was mined for lithium in the mid20th century for use in glass, ceramics and grease. But the target products have shifted as technology has evolved. Lithium is increasingly in demand for use in lithium-ion batteries in handheld technologies such as smartphones and laptops as well as in electric vehicles and for energy storage from wind farms and other electricity sources. South Dakota lawmakers have made recent efforts to further regulate and tax lithium mining, though none has been successful. Under current law, lithium mines can be classified the same as sand and gravel mines, which require far less public notification and input and do not require environmental and cultural impact studies that are mandatory for hard rock mines. That same debate is raging now in Piedmont, where a proposed limestone mine fell under the sand and gravel permit laws and therefore required no notification of the city or its residents that a mine is coming. The most recent critical mineral exploration is being undertaken by Rapid City-based Pete Lien and Sons, which hopes to find reserves of graphite by drilling 18 holes roughly 1,000 feet deep on federal lands about 3 miles southwest of Rochford, according to U.S. Forest Service documents. A handful of Native American and environmental groups have taken strong stances against further mining in the Black Hills. The proposed Lien mine site is very close to Pe' Sla, a Lakota ceremonial site in the central hills. The potential negative effects of mining on drinking water supplies is a major concern of the Black Hills Clean Water Alliance. "We're in a semi-arid area and mining uses huge quantities of water and makes the quality of the water worse,” said director Lilias Jarding. The firm Rare Element Resources has spent $100 million to mine rocks from the Bear Lodge region of northeast Wyoming that it believes contain an "incredibly rich deposit" of NdPr oxide (Neodymium-Praseodymium oxide). The mineral is a key component of highstrength permanent magnets. To separate the NdPr oxide, RER has built a $70 million demonstration plant in Upton, Wyoming, where more than 20 full-time employees have been hired. "It’s no secret that China controls roughly 90% of rare earth processing, separation and production," Paul Bonifas, RER director of business development, told News Watch. "As ridiculous as it sounds, this is Upton and Sundance, Wyoming, versus Beijing." This story was produced by South Dakota News Watch, an independent, nonprofit organization. Read more stories and donate at sdnewswatch.org and sign up for an email to get stories when they're published. Contact content director Bart Pfankuch at bart.pfankuch@ sdnewswatch.org.